It's always been like that in a combat zpne.Our soldiers & sailors can never be assured of 100 % safety.
My brother beefed up a jeep with metal from a scrap yard in Vietnam in 1971.
Rode in choppers sitting on his amored vest.
You are never prepared for a war.
Exactly! Our soldier's have been making due in a McGiveresque fashion for some time now. Before my husband went into Kosovo he had to scurrage for scrap metal to beef up his Humvees. There have always been problems getting supplies to the troops. This is not a problem unique to the Bush administration. I do feel confident that these issues are being taken care of. Honestly, there is so much red tape involved I am shocked anything gets done in the government.
Who cares if the media planted questions. It was a good question that Rumsfeld opened himself up to by have a Q & A session. Had the soldier known that his question was going to make national headlines he would have thought differently about asking it. It only takes a quick search of the Army Times archives to see that supply issues have been reported on for years and years. Why the heck this is "news" - I have no clue.
Yankee ingenuity has always been a major component in America's military success. We differ from the military of despots and tyrants in that our soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen have always been encouraged to understand the intent of the orders and adapt for success. We often used the phrase "Semper Gumby" (Always Flexible) in response to an order phrased in terms of an objective instead of a step-by-step direct order.